LAKEWOOD, NJ (April 27, 2025) - It wasn't always pretty, and Georgian Court Women's Lacrosse almost let a first half lead slip away, but the Lions were able to regroup and move on in the CACC Tournament thanks to a 14-13 win over Holy Family. The game featured plenty of stoppages which affected the flow of play. There were also wind gusts up to 40 MPH which made conditions challenging. Despite all that, Georgian Court was able pick up a CACC Tournament win, their fourth win in a row to continue their season.

How it Happened
• There seemed to be nonstop whistles and the 13 cards, 16 free-position shots (plus even more free-position opportunities that team's elected not to take a shot) all made for a rather disjointed game.
• The Lions though were happy with all of those calls inside the circle. Georgian Court was 8-11 on free-position attempts, scoring more than half their goals that way. Holy Family was just 1-5.
• Georgian Court got called for eight penalties and Holy Family scored five power-play goals. HFU was whistled for five cards, leading to two GCU woman-up goals.
• The rest of the stats were very even. Both teams lost 16 turnovers. Both teams failed three clearance attempts. Holy Family won one more on the draw, 16-15.
1st Quarter
• Things were going very well for Georgian Court in the first quarter, and one Lion in particular - Nena Menard. She scored the first three goals for Georgian Court. The third on a free-position shot.
• Breanna Upton cashed in on a free-position shot with 5:38 left in the first to give GCU a 4-1 lead.
• Holy Family though answered. They capitalized on a GCU card and scored back-to-back goals to get to within one, 4-3, with just under three minutes remaining. 
• With the clock winding down, Isabel Raimondi scored her first and GCU was up 5-3 after 15 minutes.
2nd Quarter
• Georgian Court hung another five goals up in the second quarter.
• They scored three times on free-position shots and including Raimondi's goal to end the first, were on a 6-0 run, going up by a commanding 10-3 score.
• Michaela Scirrotto started it with a free-position goal a minute into the frame. 
• Menard scored twice and Caitlin Petrellese added two goals less than a minute apart, on on the power-play.
• The Tigers finished the half strong and took advantage of two Georgian Court penalties. They scored two woman-up goals, the final with 18 seconds left in the half to cut the lead in half, 10-5.
3rd Quarter
• The momentum continued to build for Holy Family as they started the second-half scoring with a pair of goals.
• Menard added another free-position goal to bring the lead back up to four, 11-7.
• Two more power-play goals for the Tigers brought them within two, 11-9, with 3:55 to play in the period.
• Scirrotto finished the third, putting the Lions up three, 12-9, with her second goal.
4th Quarter
• After Holy Family got back within two, 12-10, 90 seconds into the fourth, it looked like the Lions put the game away.
• Petrellese scored and Nena Menard scored a power play goal bringing the lead back to four, 14-10.
• Menard's goal came at the start of a locked-in two-minute penalty on the Tigers.
• That was the only goal GCU could score with the extra-attacker though and HFU seemed rejuvenated killing off the rest of the penalty.
• Back to even strength, Holy Family started scoring quickly. 
• They made it a 14-11 game with 5:31 left. Then after a GCU turnover, another goal made it 14-12 with 3:16 to play.
• Nena Menard had her shot blocked and the Tiger goalkeeper was there to pick up the ground ball and started a breakaway which HFU capitalized on and made it a one-goal game, 14-13, with 1:22 to play.
• The Tigers won the ensuing draw control to get possession right back looking to tie. Menard, who led the offense, this time finished the game with her defense. She stepped in front of a pass to break it up and give GCU the ball back and they were able to play keepaway long enough until the clock expired on a 14-13 win.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Nena Menard scored seven goals with five ground balls, two caused turnovers and one draw control. She was 4-5 on free-position shots.
• Caitlin Petrellese totaled four points with three goals, one assist, five ground balls and five draw controls.
• Isabel Raimondi had a goal and two assists.
• Michaela Scirrotto scored twice and won five draw controls.
• Madison Battle caused two turnovers and picked up two ground balls.
• Cadence Gentile got the win in net. She made seven saves in 34 minutes. Natalie Moradian finished the game making two saves.

For the Tigers
• Renee Althoff was an unsung hero for the Tigers. She played the final 45 minutes in goal and made five saves, to keep HFU in the game. She had only appeared in goal one other time this season.
• Rianna Shields scored four goals with two assists, four ground balls and five draw controls.
• Payton Pugh scored four times as well with two ground balls and two caused turnovers.
• Gwen Varley chipped in two goals and two assists.

News and Notes
• Nena Menard picked up her 30th ground ball.
• Isabel Raimondi became the sixth Lion to play 75 career games.
• This was the Lions second one-goal game of the season. They're 2-0.
• Since joining the CACC, Georgian Court has made the CACC semifinals each year (not including 2020 and 2021 which did not get played because of COVID-19) dating back to 2009.

Up Next
• Georgian Court will play their semifinal round game Tuesday, April 29 at No. 1 seed Dominican. Game time is to be announced.